By Jeff McLane, INQUIRER STAFF WRITER

When Joe Banner stepped down as team president, Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie extended general manager Howie Roseman's contract for an additional four to five years, a team source said.

In June, when Lurie first announced a "succession plan" - with Roseman and new president Don Smolenski assuming most of Banner's responsibilities - Lurie said that Smolenski had signed a multiyear deal. He did not elaborate on Roseman's contract, however, except to say that he had an existing contract.

It turns out that deal - Roseman had one or two years remaining - lengthened significantly after the 37-year-old GM's first two years on the job.

With the Eagles a disappointing 3-5 this season and coach Andy Reid as close as ever to losing his job, Roseman's contract situation appears to give him security beyond this season. He is likely to play an important part in choosing Reid's successor should Lurie fire his longtime coach.

The Eagles had no comment Tuesday and a message left with Roseman's agent, Bob LaMonte, was not returned.

Roseman's salary was not available.

Lurie has had nothing but glowing things to say about Roseman. In January, when he delivered a scathing assessment of the 2011 season and directed most of his criticism toward Reid, the owner was asked about Roseman's accountability.

"He's one of the brightest young guys in the league," Lurie said. "I'm very excited about what he brings to the table."

Since Roseman was named the league's youngest general manager in January 2010, the Eagles have gone 21-19 and lost a playoff game to the Packers after the 2010 regular season.

Roseman has been active in his first three seasons as GM. Although Reid has final say on football matters and Banner handled a number of deals, such as the Kevin Kolb trade to Arizona, Roseman has drafted a league-high 33 players and engineered 31 trades.

Roseman's first two drafts were mediocre at best. There is still a little time to make final evaluations, but the 2010 and 2011 draft classes have significantly more misses than hits. The early-round picks have all been disappointments thus far.

The 2012 class has a number of players already contributing, but it is too early to say if Roseman's third class can be labeled a success after only eight games.

In August, when Lurie said that the Eagles needed to show "substantial improvement" from last season's 8-8 finish for Reid to return, he was asked about Roseman and how he would be evaluated at season's end.

"Howie has done an excellent job," Lurie said. "I think general managers get measured by player acquisitions, the draft, trades, how they communicate with the rest of the organization, how they communicate with the players, [and] their strategy going forward.

"There is a lot to analyze and I think Howie is doing an outstanding job, and as I said, it is early to make a determination of this draft class. Just based on a few months it is extremely promising."

Reid has one year left on the four-year extension he signed in December 2009. LaMonte, also Reid's agent, said at Eagles training camp in August that Lurie once told him that as long as he was owner, Reid would remain his coach.

Roseman hired LaMonte during the 2011 offseason.

Roseman has had a meteoric rise with the Eagles since they hired him out of Fordham Law School in 2000 to be a salary-cap analyst. The Brooklyn native worked his way up to vice president of football administration in 2006 and was made vice president of player personnel in 2008.

Seventeen months later, he succeeded Tom Heckert as general manager. Heckert left to take the same job in Cleveland.

The Eagles' first three picks in Roseman's three drafts: defensive end Brandon Graham, safety Nate Allen, and defensive end Daniel Te'o-Nesheim in 2010; guard Danny Watkins, safety Jaiquawn Jarrett, and cornerback Curtis Marsh in 2011; and defensive tackle Fletcher Cox, linebacker Mychal Kendricks, and defensive end Vinny Curry in 2012.

Te'o-Nesheim and Jarrett are no longer on the roster. With Watkins and Allen out with injuries, only Cox and Kendricks started Monday night against the Saints.

During the offseason, as the Eagles transitioned from Banner to Roseman as chief contract negotiator, Roseman extended the contracts of running back LeSean McCoy, wide receiver DeSean Jackson, defensive end Trent Cole, and tackle Todd Herremans.